Jesus’ death was so dramatic, so important that it affected nature – causing an earthquake, the sun to stop shining – it affected mankind – the temple veil torn in two. I am struck by something Lyanne noticed this morning: why were Jesus’ closest followers watching from a distance while the other people stood close and watched the spectacle? Those closest to Jesus stayed longer while the others “beat their breasts” and left. I have to think that those who witnessed Jesus’ death upclose came almost to be entertained. Almost like watching your least favorite team get slaughtered in a game. They were drawn into the drama of the day. They were caught in the excitement of the event. And when reality hit – and boy did it hit hard – they were struck with sorrow. How could they have done such a thing? Like the centurion, something happened on that day that hit everyone hard.
Sin is like that. It is so compelling, so exciting, so attractive. It seems life doesn’t get enough drama so we run to it when it something happens. One only needs to watch the news to see how everything seems to get so blown up in order to attract viewers. That is our nature I suppose, to be taken away from what we see as a mundane life. But when reality hits, and we see sin for what it is, sometimes the heart is pierced with sorrow. In the case of the centurion, it not only led to sorrow, it led to praise.
As I think and write about this, I wonder how the Centurion could leave with praise and the others leave in sorrow. This is a difficult question. I can understand the people leaving in sadness, but worship? How could one worship after seeing an innocent man crucified? To be honest, this stumps me. This is something I’ll need to dwell on more…
I must say though, at some point after we have recognized our sin we must come to a point of worship, don’t we? I think of tomorrow night when we participate in the Good Friday service, and I wonder, how would we worship Jesus if we didn’t know the end of the story? But it is precisely because we know the end of the story that we can worship God after we have sinned. His forgiveness should bring us to our knees. If I know nothing about how the centurion could worship God after a tragic event, I can at least know that I can worship because the tragedy leads ultimately to victory and the forgiveness of sins.